Been There, Done That Book

Who would've thought that Eddie Fisher, cheesy pop singer, pipsqueak Mouseketeer to the Rat Pack, speed freak and coke fool, AWOL daddy, discarded Liz Taylor boy toy, and husband from hell, could pen a memoir as entertaining as his talented daughter Carrie's? Granted, he has the help of autobiographer to the stars David Fisher (no relation), but still, it's startling how sleekly readable Fisher's misadventures are, and shocking that he comes off with raffish charm and a sense of humor. Don't worry, there's not too much about Eddie's dull, madly successful singing career--he wasn't that interested in it either. He preferred women. Warning: as is the case with Robert Evans's comparably entertaining sex-and-drugs tell-all, The Kid Stays in the Picture, we can't know whether it's all true. Some of Eddie's alleged women have denied dalliance. Did he really get naked with Joan Collins ("the British Open") in Dean Martin's pool, screaming along with Dino and Brando until the cops came? Did he share Sue Lyon with Richard Burton and Judy Campbell with Sinatra, JFK, and Sam Giancana? (Eddie doubts Campbell's story that she passed documents from JFK to mobster Sam.) Did Jackie turn JFK onto amphetamine fiend Max Jacobson, the famed "Dr. Feelgood" who destroyed his own life and 30 years of Eddie's? Were Bob Hope's military-base shows really "sex tours"? His bitterness makes one doubt he gives first wife Debbie Reynolds ("the Iron Butterfly") a fair shake. Did Liz Taylor drive away, naked and hysterical, in her Cadillac when Eddie suggested she see a psychiatrist? Did Burton beat her, and did she try to steal My Fair Lady from her friend Audrey Hepburn? In a Munich suite once used by Mussolini to entertain Hitler, did Liz bite Eddie as he dug pills out of her mouth to save her life? Did Liz bed Rock Hudson and Montgomery Clift? Read Fisher and see what you believe. --Tim Appelo Read More